iPhone game gets kids out playing in parks

Australian gaming studio Bulpadok released today The Hidden Park, a location-based game on the iPhone App store dedicated to kids and taking place in large urban parks across the world.

"We wanted to create a gaming environment that gets kids off the couch and out into the great outdoors, without compromising their enjoyment of digital entertainment," says James Kane, director of Bulpadok.

The game takes children on a magical journey, opening up a fantasy world of trolls, fairies and tree genies that children can photograph, play with, and interact with. The children must follow a GPS map of the park, solve riddles and beat magical creatures at games in order to save it from being over-run by greedy developers. Environmental education plays an important role in The Hidden Park, giving children a creative insight into the importance of preserving the natural beauty of city parklands.

"The beauty of The Hidden Park is that it can be adapted for other parks. We've rolled out the game across nine cities around the world [Boston, Hong-Kong, London, Melbourne, Munich, New York, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto]," says James Kane. "And we are working closely with WSP to release a park builder, so parents can set up the game in their local park and share it with other parents."